Fear of Falling
by Carter Lee Grace
Summary: "I told you, I'm not scared of heights...I'm afraid of falling." Takes place after TLH, Thalia learning to actually be nice to Nico :D Not romantic, just friendliness.


Hello. Carter Athena here. (Anyone who sees the vague reference gets a virtual cookie.)

So I got this idea from a two places: a conversation with my friend, and "Mine" by Taylor Swift. This was originally going to be Thalico, with more romantic stuff in it, but because I decided to make the story happen like right after TLH, Nico's still like 12 or 13, and Thalia's still physically 15. And I think that it would be kind of creepy to start romantic stuff then because of the (physical) age differences (because mentally, they're the same age). I think Thalico works, but only after a few years when they're both physically around 15/16.

There are very, very little TLH spoilers in here. I think like...two sentences, tops. But they're not (completely) central to the story, so it's okay. And I know the story is very cliche, but I seriously didn't know how to make them meet where they did. I ask you to just please go with it and imagine that something like that would happen. (It's a demigod world. Weird things like this happen. Like in The Sword of Hades? Yeah, like that. Sort of.) Anyways, this was a long intro author's note thing, so let's get to the disclaimer and start the story.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or the Heroes of Olympus, no matter how many times that I wish that I did.**

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I'm Thalia. Daughter of Zeus, lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis, wielder of an Aegis replica, and practically fearless. I've face armies of monsters, traveled to the Underworld and back, and tracked some terrifying monsters. But stick me somewhere where my feet aren't firmly on the ground and you get a hyperventilating scaredy-cat.

Of course, I try my best to hide it, acting strong like my usual self. But my breathing gets shallow, my hands clam up, and I'm petrified that somehow I'll slip and come crashing down. How can anybody _not_ be horrified of making that small mistake, and falling to that impending doom? You know, that lurching sensation you get when you drop, when your stomach feels a million miles above the rest of your body and the ground beneath you is just getting closer, and closer, and closer, until you whack into the ground. Does no one else see that very realistic possibility?

So now, as I find myself about to walk along a narrow cliff ledge that's a few trillion miles from sea level, you can most likely guess that I'm not exactly the happiest girl in the world.

Annabeth had Iris-messaged me that I needed to get to camp A.S.A.P., because she had news about Percy that would probably be explained better in person. I left Phoebe in charge of the Hunters, since she's second in line in seniority, and told them to keep tracking Lycaeon, who had fled after the encounter at the Wolf House. As I went on my own, my thoughts were preoccupied with getting to Long Island as fast as I could, so I plotted out the quickest route. Naturally, this brought me to the cliff that is right in front of me that would take a few days to go around, but only a few minutes to cross (that is, if you weren't me).

I make the mistake of looking down, and the trees below appear as tiny specks in the distance. Oh my gods, there is no way I can do this. My eyes squeeze shut, unwilling to picture the horrors, yet the image keeps haunting my mind. I attempt to inhale a deep breath, but the air comes in jagged and shallow, and my hands clench into tight fists. If Annabeth wasn't the person I need to find, then I would've run away already. But because she might as well be my little sister, I can't turn back now. _For Annabeth_, I chant to myself, _Because of Annabeth you have to get across this cliff_. I hesitantly stretch out my right leg, stepping out on to the ledge and slowly balancing my weight on both feet. The pebbles underneath me shift a little, and a few tumble over the edge, dropping like hailstones until they disappear from my view. My body tenses, and my brain just HAS to think that soon I'd probably be the thing hurtling off and dying and–

"Hey, Thalia, you okay there?" I whirl around, brandishing Aegis, ready to kill whoever just decided to half-scare me to death. (Okay, so maybe I didn't take out my shield…and maybe I screamed. But just a little. No one could hear me. You know, if everybody was too busy listening to really loud music to hear my deafening shriek. But this never happened, right? I thought so.) I end up face to face with a guy about 12 or 13 years old, with messy dark hair and really dark eyes that almost scare me. Almost.

"Nico di Angelo, what in Hades are you doing here?" I give him one of my famous death glares, and I manage to frighten the boy who hangs out with ghosts and practically lives with the dead.

He shrugs, kind of nervous, shaking his hair out of his face. "I was just randomly shadow traveling, and accidentally ended up here. What about you? Why would you come here if you're terrified of heights?"

That does it.

"I am NOT terrified of heights! For your information, I'm on my way to Camp Half-Blood, and I was completely fine until _you_ came along," I snap at him. Unfortunately, considering I'm still standing on the thin surface that's much too far away from a large expanse of solid ground, my anger causes me to stumble slightly, and my foot slips about a centimeter closer to the rim. I suck in a breath, my whole self trembling, certain that I'm tumbling straight downwards, when I see the pair of black eyes with that teasing glint, and Nico suppressing a laugh. I grit my teeth, silently cursing at my aggravating instinct to freeze up in high places.

"Oh really?" Nico says, "You're literally frozen like one of Medusa's statues on that cliff, and you're not terrified of heights?" Stupid, stupid Nico. I owe him a high voltage lightning bolt in the head, which I would've summoned then and there if, well, you should know by now.

"I told you, I'm not scared of _heights_," I tell him, exhaling slowly. "I'm afraid of _falling_." It's not until I say it out loud that I realize that this is the actual case. Great, I have a revelation about one of the biggest things in my life, and the first person to find out is _Nico_.

He looks at me, like he's not sure whether he should believe me or knock me on the head to make sure I'm sane. "Is there a difference?" he questions, a smirk tugging at his mouth. I wonder if he knows how dangerous it is to mess with a child of Zeus, even if his dad is Hades. Obviously, spending too much time away from real human beings with beating hearts will affect your common sense.

"_Absolutely_," I answer, "Now, I'd appreciate it if you left me alone, because I have to go now." In an attempt to show him off (and to get away from this infuriating kid), I begin to move a few steps sideways along the cliff. Small beads of cold sweat roll down my face, and I forcefully bite my lip to keep a cry from escaping. My breath comes in shallow bursts, and unthinkingly, I put my foot down – on air. I feel myself lurch to one side, glancing down to find that there's nothing to support me, and suddenly, I remember that night…

_I was eleven. It was late, and clouds covered the sky, leaving no trace of stars or the moon. Luke and I ran senselessly in the dark, chased by a Sphinx whose questions we couldn't answer. The monster had me cornered, and as my only chance, I jumped to the left, its claws narrowly missing my head. It turned towards my new location, and I unsuccessfully tried to unsheathe my sword, to no avail. The Sphinx pounced, but the darkness clogged my view, and I couldn't see it until it was too late to get completely out of the way. I moved as fast as I could, but its body slammed into mine, and I hurtled across the air, expecting to land on the ground sometime soon. What I didn't know was that I had been thrown off a cliff. _

_When the realization came, my mind couldn't function properly, and all I wanted was to know that someone was there to help me. _"_Luke!" I shouted, trying to find him through the black of night. I yelled for him over and over again. "Luke! Luke!" My arms and legs flailed around, reaching for a handhold that wasn't there to be grasped. I shut my eyes tightly, wishing for the end to just come already, as I fell…and fell…and fell…_

A warm hand clutches on to my forearm, and my stomach returns to its regular place. "L-Luke?" I whisper.

"Um, no, it's me. Thalia, just open your eyes." I hadn't even noticed they were closed in the first place. As my eyesight clears, I see Nico's arm extended towards mine, and his expression is filled with concern. "You okay there? You nearly fell." Wow, no kidding, Captain Obvious.

He lets go of my arm cautiously, as if making sure that I don't fall again while standing perfectly still. I glance at my surroundings, discovering that Nico has brought me back to the place right before the cliff ledge begins, so the amount of space between me and the edge is enough to keep my fear under control. (It also means that I hadn't traveled very far in the first place, but I'm going to ignore that fact.) I exhale a gust of air, and say, "I'm fine."

"Good," he replies, smiling, "I was kind of worried, especially after you started seeing dead people."

"You spend time with dead people everyday, and you're calling _me_ the weird one?" I retaliate. Electricity tingles at my fingers, and I'm fully prepared to shock him when I remember that he just saved my life. "Oh," I continue, "Um, and thanks. You know, for not letting me die. That would've been…bad." As you can see, I'm not good at this kind of stuff. But the intention was there, and that's all that matters. Were you expecting me to write a heartfelt poem or something? I didn't think so.

Nico appears confused at my abrupt gratitude, but he responds anyways. "You're welcome. And how about I help shadow travel you to Camp Half-Blood, so you can get there faster? That way, you have no excuse to kill me." He points at my hands, around which static still lingered. The temptation to zap him was getting stronger, but in my current predicament…maybe I should take his offer.

"Um, sure. That'd be cool. That is, if you're wanted at camp. You weren't exactly invited." Just because he's doing me a favor won't prevent me from making fun of him. He's too easy of a target.

He sticks his tongue out at me, like a little kid would. "Alright, let's go before I change my mind about this, because I'm seriously regretting my decision." Nico holds his hand out in my direction, and I punch him lightly in the shoulder before taking it. I look back at the cliff, which seems just a little less terrifying now. Falling isn't that scary, at least not when you have someone to catch you. But because Death Boy here was the one to catch me, I guess I shouldn't zap him like I planned to do earlier.

At least, not yet.

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I hope I got their characters right. I'm really not sure, but they seem like the kind of people who would purposely get on each other's nerves a lot. If I'm totally off on how they act, I'd really like to know, for future reference and stuff. It'd be great if you pressed the review button below anyways, and tell me what you think :D

Oh, and if you're wondering how that flashback ends, Thalia didn't fall that far, but because it was dark, she thought she did. She landed in a grassy field but still got hurt quite a bit. Luke managed to find her in the morning. Annabeth wasn't with them yet. I was going to work that into the story, but I liked it better the way it is.


End file.
